DEPARTMENT OF BLACK STUDIES

Spring 2024 Office Hours:

Spring: Thursdays from 1pm to 2pm and by appointment

Research Interests:

The Harlem Renaissance
Black American Quilting
Black American Women Writers
The phenomenon of passing and the performance of identity in 20th-century Black American Literature
The Work of Toni Morrison

Spring 2024 Courses:

BLK ST 210: Introduction to Black Literature
BLK ST 480: Major Authors: Toni Morrison

Current Research:

My current project, Larger Than Life: Toni Morrison, Quilts, and Community, is a book-length study of the ways in which Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison uses quilts and quilting in her work as an editor, author, and public scholar.  I examine the intersections of American folk culture, American literature, and Black American aesthetic traditions in the work of Toni Morrison. Drawing upon current theories of resistance, Black feminism, performance, and cultural aesthetics, my book considers the ways in which these theories intersect and illuminate the importance of quilts and quilting in Morrison’s work.  I theorize on how the act of quilting—in the lives of both the literal and literary Black women I analyze—is not only an engagement in improvisation and artistic creation, but also in interiority and quiet resistance.  The quilt also serves to document the evidence of life lived. My work explores how Morrison employs quilt-making as a ritualistic act to overcome oppression, loss, misrepresentation, and invisibility while also demonstrating the associated imprint of quilts in other areas of Black expressive arts. I analyze the distinctive aspects that define the Black Aesthetic Quilting Tradition: the assertion of individual and collective agency; the emphasis on quilt narrative development and execution; the social and historical significance of quilts; and the emotional/psychological liberation that accompanies the processes of creating a quilt. These characteristics make quilting--and its simultaneous acts of repurposing, improvising, and creating--community-building performances in Toni Morrison’s work.  By celebrating the importance of quilts and quilting, Morrison demonstrates and proves her assertion that America is unintelligible without the contributions of Black Americans.

Recent Awards:

Associate Student Government Faculty Honor Roll Award, Northwestern University, 2006-2011; 2021-22.

Charles Deering McCormick Award for Teaching Excellence, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 2017-20. 

Recent Publications/Exhibitions:

Radiant Compositions II: Quilts of Inspiration and Remembrance by Dr. Tracy L. Vaughn-Manley, Dittmar Memorial Gallery, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, January 12-March 4, 2023. 

“From Rags to Richness: Piecing the Patchwork of American Culture,” Northwestern Now, https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2023/02/tracy-vaughn-manley-quilting-american-culture/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=expert-viewpoint; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUma5h_Ugxk; February 10, 2023. 

“Pens and Needles: Toni Morrison, Quilts, and Community,” Journal of Ethnic American Literature, Issue 12 (2022): 38-55. 

“Painting and Piecing: A Legacy of Resilience in the Work of Mary Frances Robinson,” International Review of African American Art, Vol. 27 No. 1 (Jan 2017): 61-63. 

“For My Dear Professor Skerrett.” Callaloo: A Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters, 39.1 (Winter 2016): 10-11. 

Radiant Compositions: The Quilt Artistry of Dr. Tracy L. Vaughn
(first international exhibit)
Hamad Bin Khalifa University Art Gallery
Doha, Qatar (October 9-November 3, 2011)

Media Appearances:

June 8, 2023   WGN TV, “People to People” with Micah Materre, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9dPJJAZ4lE

 Feb. 24, 2023 Evanston RoundTable, “Beautiful ‘Quilts of Inspiration and Remembrance’ at Northwestern’s Dittmar Gallery”, https://evanstonroundtable.com/2023/02/24/quilting-exhibit-northwestern-dittmar-gallery/

 Feb. 20, 2023 ABC7, “Northwestern professor’s hand sewn quilts on display for Black History Month”, https://abc7chicago.com/how-to-make-a-quilt-pattern-shop-dr-tracy-vaughn-manley/12849119/

Feb. 17, 2023 CBS Chicago, “Black History Month: The history behind quilting”, https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/northwestern-university-quilting/

Feb. 16, 2023 Fox32 Chicago, “New exhibit highlights how quilting tells the history of Black families”, https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1181516

NBC Chicago, “Discovering Black Heritage: The Power of Quilting”, https://www.nbcchicago.com/top-videos-home/discovering-black-heritage-power-of-quilting/3074963/

April 2021 Quiltfolk, Issue 18—Illinois, Profile: “Tracy Vaughn-Manley: Story Quilts”

*Photo by Stephen Lewis